Florian Wirtz has had a slow start to life at Anfield, but he has been backed to “assert himself” as he is “not one of those divas.”
One byproduct of Wirtz’s £116 million price tag is that he is expected to assimilate immediately into Liverpool’s title-winning side.
It has not quite been the case, with the 22-year-old struggling to connect with his new teammates, but there have been enough glimpses to suggest it is only a matter of time.
His intentional flick-on to Mo Salah at Chelsea is a prime example of that, with the German ruing the No. 11’s finishing for not notching his first Premier League assist.
While under an intense microscope at Liverpool, he has the backing of those in his homeland, with legend and current German FA director Rudi Voller telling Sky90 that he is not one to sulk.
“I know that he’s not one of those divas in his position who stand around with their heads down if they’re not passed to three times,” Voller said, via Bullinews.
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“Florian isn’t like that. He’s not only an extraordinary footballer, he also has a great character.
“He will give everything from the first to the last minute, always push forward. He also has incredible running stats. He will assert himself.”
More pertinently, Voller underlines a point that many outside Liverpool’s four walls seem to forget, that it takes time to develop a relationship and connection with a new team.
Not to mention the entire team has also undergone significant changes and is finding its feet as a unit.
“The big difference is: at Bayer Leverkusen, despite the individual quality of the other players, he was always looked for,” Voller explained further.
“Players like Granit Xhaka, Alejandro Grimaldo or Robert Andrich certainly ran the game. But the moment Florian made himself available, he always got the ball. Even as a young guy, he was already the chief.
“I deliberately watched some Liverpool games with him. He does an incredible amount of work, runs a lot, makes many sprints, and also goes deep.
“But he isn’t played to in the way he was used to at Leverkusen or with the national team. That’s something that has to be developed over weeks and months.”
It will click for Wirtz and Liverpool, but patience is needed until then, and the No. 7 evidently has the character needed to navigate his tough start.
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